The present invention relates to a pillow. More particularly, the present invention relates to a pillow that is configured to anatomically and comfortably support the face, jaw, neck and head while being capable of being manipulated with manual force into numerous configurations and maintains the selected configurations of the user.
There are many adjustable and fixed U-shaped pillows that are positioned around a person's neck that do not extend upwardly to also contact, surround and/or support the bottom, front, back and sides of the user's head. A pillow that wraps only about the neck, and does not extend about the head, leaves the head unsupported and susceptible to tilting and/or wobbling forward, rearward and to either side of the cranium's cervical/neck axis. When the individual is positioned in an upwardly angled reclined position or a substantially vertical sitting position, like sitting, relaxing or sleeping in an airplane seat, propped up on a sofa or in a bed watching TV or reading, the circumference of their head/cranium is unsupported and susceptible to tilting and/or wobbling off its cervical axis. When a person attempts to lay down in a prone position utilizing such a U-shaped pillow, the pillow, due to its lack of head, skull or cranium support, will cause a substantial amount of rearward bending in the cervical/cranium neck region as the distance between the back of the head to the sleeping or resting surface will be excessive which causes the cranium, cervical vertebra of the neck, thoracic vertebra of the upper back, and associated tissues to compress and distort. The compression and distortion of the cranium with respect to the cervical vertebra of the neck, the thoracic vertebra of the upper back and associated tissues could lead to discomfort, misalignment, pain and injury to the individual along with a lower quality of sleep.
Further, the U-shaped pillow is intended to stabilize the head in an upright, linear position but fails to support and/or immobilize the head from leaning or tilting laterally from side-to-side, such as sleeping on an airplane seat or propped up on a sofa or in a bed watching TV or reading. The wrap-around-the-neck U-shape design does not prevent head and neck movement. When it is not supported, the user's head can fall forward and also tilt laterally to one side or the other when in a seated or reclined position. If the head of the user tilts or sways to one side or the other in a rapid action, like the seconds prior to falling asleep, or is laying in this position for any extended period of time, the jaw, neck and its vertebra, nerves and tissues will be substantially misaligned, flexed and/or compressed, which can result in poor anatomical posture, discomfort, sleep disturbance, injury and/or pain to the individual.
With regard to standard “flat” pillows, which typically lay on top the bed, these pillows are intended for the sleeper to lay his/her head on the top of the pillow's surface. The pillow remains in the same position on top of the bed however if the sleeper tosses and turns, or shifts their head and body to either side, it is possible for the sleeper's head to travel to either another part of the pillow, wobble off the edge of the pillow, and/or their head can totally disengage from the pillow, causing the head to fall off the pillow and into an unnatural misaligned tilted position resulting in poor anatomical posture that will cause compression and potential injury in the jaw and cranium/cervical/thoracic regions similar to the effect of the compression and tilt of sleeping in a prone position with a wrap-around-the-neck designed pillow.
There are many instances when a person desires to conform a standard flat pillow into a configuration other than that of a flat pillow, such as to muffle noise and/or to block out light when sleeping by manually having to hold the pillow onto one or both ears and eyes. In order for a standard flat pillow to maintain any desired configuration other than flat, the person must maintain a physically energy-exerting force on the pillow, which in many instances is not possible due to the person attempting to sleep. As such, a standard flat pillow, in many instances is not capable of meeting the person's needs.